One wonders what people misread in the product description to arrive at the idea that any of the current WiiM product range can work as a USB DAC?
One wonders why, of all the reviews I watched/read, not a single one ever mentioned this deficiency. All streamers include DACs. They are the heart of any streamer. Almost exclusively, most, if not all consumer music streamers include the ability to handle data from a USB source without the need for additional adapters, or software.
Having direct acces to files via usb would remove any need to be sat at a pc or even owning one.
I too have "my sources", but the idea of streaming lossless copies was among my reasons to buy the WiiM. Having no on board storage or usb access reduces it to an upgrade to a cd player.
My own fault for just assuming that easy direct access to the files it is designed to work with would be a given and built In. Seems a very srange omission to me, for users of any generation.
Flip it and wait for the upgrade I suppose.
The point I was trying to make was, I was dumbfounded by the omission. I don't necessarily need this feature, but having the device be directly recognizable by Windows, or Linux, makes it more flexible in meeting some users connectivity needs. Additionally, having it recognizable by Windows as a playback device (via a USB connection), allows the user to use it as their general playback device - including hi-res music files using local client software like JRiver, or foobar200. Many music lovers listen to their library off of a thumb drive, or external SSD drive. From desktop users to simple laptop users with powered speakers.
At a basic level any thumb drive USB Soundcard into the PC then connected to the line in on the WiiM will allow you to play on PC and have output via WiiM.
Who wants to use Line-In on an inherently digital device when you shouldn't have to.
A Raspberry Pi plus files on USB. There are all sorts of media server options you can install. You don’t then need the PC on at all.
If you are put off by Linux don’t be. A Raspberry Pi can be fully configured via a web browser.
Agreed. I've been doing this for years and have built several streamers based on the RPi, and VIM family of SBCs(Single Board Computers). I can stream to just about every room in my house using Roon end-points I've built from my music library on my NAS. All of streamers, have the ability to accept either I2S (network) data, or from a USB device - recognized by a thumb drive or a recognized device.
Thanks for the suggestions, all appreciated.
I have tried the native Windows sharing options serving files directly from a pc but this of course means the pc must be on all the time.
It was partially successful though in that it eventually saw, read, and played files from a "test" library from the attached external usb drive.
The pc app listed the files but I was surprised to find the files under "My Music" and not "Home Music Share". "Home Music Share" currently only offers a path to the usb drive, but when followed, only leads to two identically named unopenable folders called music. These are ghosts of the experimental test libraries I loaded via the pc and later deleted. I used it for a few hours with no problems. It did though take a few experiments with file structures and naming before I got it right. This resulted in a few differently named "test" libraries being created and deleted. End result is that I can currently access and use the files from my pc. Which is the element I wanted to get rid of.
While doing the above I occasionally opened the android app on my phone to check progress. In the early stages it seemed to be working and I played a few songs. It seemed to all go wrong after I edited either individual files or the library name via the pc app..
When I go to the library on my android tablet, "Home Music Share" shows the same now deleted test library which leads to the same two unopenable folders called music as seen on the pc. The "My Music" tab shows local music files. On my android phone it shows the same as the tablet.
I can't find a way to reset to the current library address and stop the android app trying to instantly read non existent folders?
All of the issues you describe above would go away if the WiiM had a USB-C data port. All WiiM would need to do is add the XMOS circuitry to support USB to I2S radio.
I picked up the Wiim Pro/Plus to see what it had to offer. Not just it being a Roon supported device, but other, more local computer connectivity.
